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The Russian is one of a growing number of players to have lost their footing on the Wimbledon lawns since play began on Monday.

Sharapova, 26, became embroiled in a war of words with reigning champion Serena Williams earlier this week.

This was sparked by an article in Rolling Stone magazine in which Williams was quoted as taking a swipe at an unnamed rival player while in conversation with her sister Venus.

Sharapova believed Williams was speaking about her when she said: "She begins every interview with 'I'm so happy. I'm so lucky' - it's so boring. She's still not going to be invited to the cool parties. And, hey, if she wants to be with the guy with a black heart, go for it."

The latter comments were widely believed to refer to Grigor Dimitrov, the Bulgarian player who is dating Sharapova and has previously been close to Williams.

Williams is now said to be an item with her French coach Patrick Mouratoglou, and the nature of that relationship has come under scrutiny in the past few days.

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Sharapova was seen mouthing what appeared to be the words: "This court is dangerous" during the match in which she tumbled to the ground three times. But she was reluctant to blame conditions on the court for her defeat.

"I don't think I've ever fallen three times in a match before in my career so that was a little strange," she said.

"But that's certainly not an excuse and today I've seen a lot of players fall and take a few hits and a few injuries."

She described the courts as "a bit slippery on the outside" and added: "I just noticed a few more players falling than usual".